Syria agrees to UN probe of alleged chemical attack

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The United Nations confirms it’s reached an agreement with Syria allowing international experts to visit the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus last week.

A U.N. spokesman says the Syrian government has “affirmed that it will provide the necessary cooperation,” and that a team of U.N. experts already in Syria “is preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities’” on Monday.

Syrian state television says the two sides are working to finalize the date and time.

Anti-government activists and the international aid group Doctors Without Borders say more than 300 people were killed in the alleged toxic gas attack in the eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital.

A senior Obama administration official says there is “very little doubt” that a chemical weapon was used by Syria against civilians, and the president is considering how to respond.